Anyone else bulking? Just have a question.

alexthebb
alexthebb Posts: 19
edited February 1 in Fitness and Exercise
Hey guys,

What mass gainer have you had good experiences with for a decent price(under $50)?

Replies

  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    *following along*

    I'm curious if there is any benefit to mass gainer products vs simply more cals from real food. i.e. is it the gainer that helps with results, or simply the cals. I tend to think the latter, but I'm following along...
  • BonaFideUK
    BonaFideUK Posts: 313 Member
    Mass gainers are a waste of money. They are expensive and its nothing you couldnt do yourself, better.

    Its cheap to bulk with normal food. If you want to bulk then eat approx 20 times your body weight every day in calories (200 lb man = 4000 calories daily). Make sure 60% of this is carbs. Eat approx 1g of protein per lb of body weight. The rest can be fat.

    Easy carb sources are whole wheat pasta, whole wheat bread, brown rice and oats (easy example). All these things are incredibly cheap compared to mass gaining powder.

    On a natural bulk you will need to gain roughly 1 lb of fat to 1 lb of muscle. You should ideally aim to gain 2 lb of weight a month, so adjust the 20 times body weight thing I told you to fit that. (What I mean is it might be less than 20x to gain 2lb a month)

    If you gain too much fat, you will gain more muscle. However, when in the cutting phase, you will almost certainly lose more muscle than you gained with that extra fat if you go too much over the 1 to 1 ratio.
  • alexthebb
    alexthebb Posts: 19
    I find it hard to eat the amount of food I need, so that's why I buy them. I can't choke down peanut butter and whole milk all day. I'm an ectomorph so I actually eat around 3,500,-4,000 a day and only gain about a lb/3 weeks. And I actually have seen some better gains on my bulks when I use them. But thanks for the info.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    I find it hard to eat the amount of food I need, so that's why I buy them. I can't choke down peanut butter and whole milk all day. I'm an ectomorph so I actually eat around 3,500,-4,000 a day and only gain about a lb/3 weeks. And I actually have seen some better gains on my bulks when I use them. But thanks for the info.

    1lb every 3 weeks? Don't most people shoot for roughly .5lbs per week? You're not far from that target... How quickly do you want to gain?
  • alexthebb
    alexthebb Posts: 19
    I gain little or no fat when I bulk, and I test with calipers every month, my bodyfat will either stay the same or go down(yes, i've had plenty of practice with calipers), so i'm aiming for a lb/week (500 cal excess a day) and it only speeds up the pace by a week -.-. I do a 3 day split (chest/tri/shoulders, back/bi's, legs/abs; Mon. Wed. Fri.) and i've even cut down on cardio too.
  • alexthebb
    alexthebb Posts: 19
    And I can cut like a maniac, the "maintanence" on here will yeild about 1lb a week loss for me, so i'm not afraid of a little extra fat.
  • HelloDan
    HelloDan Posts: 712 Member
    I'm with the food option too, although I did and do use protein shakes to keep my protein intake up, as I found it easier to eat carb dense foods than protein dense foods.

    I might have done it too slowly for your liking though, I gained 10kg over 18 months, so my rate of gain was not far off what you're getting now, but my BF% didn't change, so you could probably be a bit more aggressive, especially if you are an ectomorph.
  • alexthebb
    alexthebb Posts: 19
    Ok, thank you. I guess i'll just be a little more patient haha!
  • HelloDan
    HelloDan Posts: 712 Member
    Patience is essential, no one grows into a beast overnight!
    I was going to say no one grows overnight, but that wouldn't be entirely true!

    What's your goal, and where are you starting from?
    I know you said you did a split, but what do your workouts look like? and what kind of weight are you moving at the moment?
  • alexthebb
    alexthebb Posts: 19
    Patience is essential, no one grows into a beast overnight!
    I was going to say no one grows overnight, but that wouldn't be entirely true!

    What's your goal, and where are you starting from?
    I know you said you did a split, but what do your workouts look like? and what kind of weight are you moving at the moment?

    My goal is 165-170 ish, and I started from 130(it's been a longggg time), right now i'm 155. My exercises are about 6-8 sets per muscle group (ie, 7 sets of chest; bench(2sets) incline bench(2sets) dumbbell flyes(1) incline flyes (2).) all sets have 6-8 reps in them, except warm-up, lighter weight and 12 reps. Don't include warmups in my regular sets.
  • grantdumas7
    grantdumas7 Posts: 802 Member
    If you don't have a blender, buy one and make your own gainer. Here is one example:
    1.5 cup milk or almond milk
    1 banana or fruit of your choice
    1.5 scoops protein powder
    2 tbl spoon pb, almond or cashew butter
    1/2 cup oats or even a cooked sweet potato that has been cooled over night in the fridge.
  • alexthebb
    alexthebb Posts: 19
    If you don't have a blender, buy one and make your own gainer. Here is one example:
    1.5 cup milk or almond milk
    1 banana or fruit of your choice
    1.5 scoops protein powder
    2 tbl spoon pb, almond or cashew butter
    1/2 cup oats

    Okay, thanks.
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